Horikawa

堀河

Horikawa (1079-1107) was an Emperor of Japan in the late Heian Era, reigning from 1086 until his early death in 1107 at the age of 29. The son of the redoubtable Emperor Shirakawa, Horikawa exercised little real influence over court politics, while his father Shirakawa dominated the court from his position of power as retired emperor, under the insei system of cloistered rule.

Because Horikawa died before he could retire and assume power for himself, he left little impact on the course of Japanese History, and is primarily known for his love of music and the arts, and a chronicle written by one of his female attendants, Fujiwara no Nagako, and now known as the Horikawa Diary, in which Nagako recorded her experiences caring for the sick and dying Horikawa and later serving Horikawa's successor Emperor Toba.